The invention relates to nickel-base superalloys. More particularly, the invention relates to such superalloys used in high-temperature gas turbine engine components such as turbine disks and compressor disks.
The combustion, turbine, and exhaust sections of gas turbine engines are subject to extreme heating as are latter portions of the compressor section. This heating imposes substantial material constraints on components of these sections. One area of particular importance involves blade-bearing turbine disks. The disks are subject to extreme mechanical stresses, in addition to the thermal stresses, for significant periods of time during engine operation.
Exotic materials have been developed to address the demands of turbine disk use. U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,175 discloses an advanced nickel-base superalloy for powder metallurgical manufacture of turbine disks. The disclosure of the '175 patent is incorporated by reference herein as if set forth at length. The '175 patent discloses disk alloys optimized for short-time engine cycles, with disk temperatures approaching temperatures of about 1500° F. (816° C.). Other disk alloys are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,614, US2004221927, EP1201777, and EP1195446.
Separately, other materials have been proposed to address the demands of turbine blade use. Blades are typically cast and some blades include complex internal features. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,061,426, 4,209,348, 4,569,824, 4,719,080, 5,270,123, 6,355,117, and 6,706,241 disclose various blade alloys.